That Night Was Red
by CressidaKnightlark
Summary: Caroline Blair, a baroness struggling with life and herself, gets a surprise visitor. But what ever happened to using doors like normal people? [A Dishonored story with an OC.]


_Dear Madeline_

 _It burdens my heart that I have not written you in such a long time. I have intended to, several times, but the thought has always escaped my mind, and I have always sworn: Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will write to her. I am sorry, but I suppose my forgetfulness does not come to you as a surprise, dear sister._

 _I hope things in Bastillian are running smoothly. The Outsider knows they are not doing so here. In my previous letter I mentioned the issue regarding the growing bloodfly problem. At the time it was a concern of mine but not one affecting my life personally. It troubles me to inform you that this problem now has an effect on me too. There are infested areas all around the city, this I have told you, and there is one closer to my house than I find suitable. Last week I sent a few of my guards to inspect a property with these hateful insects to see how immediate the danger is, and if there is something we could do to acutely help the situation. Unfortunately one of them contracted something. I don't know how else to say it; he became strange, disoriented, like he was here in body only and his mind was somewhere entirely else. Now he is gone, disappeared, and I do not know how to inform his family that he is lost, somewhere out there with a strange sickness. Maddie, I don't know what to do._

No. No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. The paper cried as it was ripped in half, into four pieces, then tossed aside. Caroline Blair sighed and buried her tired face in her hands. That was not a letter she wanted to send her sister. A piece of paper full of her endless, useless complaining. Bloodflies. The missing guard. Telling the family. Throw in some crying about the duke's behaviour, an unwanted marriage proposal from an uncomfortably persistent count, and the ever diminishing resources and it would make a perfect disaster in black and white. How in the world could she not write a simple letter to her own sister? How was it so incredibly hard for her all of a sudden?

"Dear Maddie. I am a mess. Send help. Love, Carrie", she muttered as she stood up and walked up to a bookshelf where she grabbed a bottle of whisky, poured herself a glass and downed it to the last drop with two large gulps. She filled the glass again and went over to a couch where she slumped down as if all energy would have suddenly left her body. Caroline leaned back and let her blue eyes meet the boring ceiling above her. How was she a baroness? She couldn't write a simple letter to her sister, let alone deal with issues any more complicated than that. Sometimes the pressure of her station made her want to scream to the night sky like a lunatic, and this was definitely one of those moments. But there was no way around it. Sink or swim, as it had always been. She sighed again, raised the glass to her lips and put more whisky in her body. She hated to be such a repeat of her own self, but tomorrow she would write the damned letter. Tomorrow, for sure.

The fair-haired woman closed her eyes and listened to the noises streaming into the room from the open windows. Her study was in the second floor, so it was easy for her to hear the life outside if she so pleased. She remembered how at first she hadn't been able to work with the windows open at all. It had been impossible to try to concentrate on fundamental matters with always someone yelling, shouting, crying, playing, singing, or fighting. Over time, however, she had gotten used to it, eventually learning not to hear any of it. But sometimes, just for petty amusement, she listened to the sea of voices.

The first thing she heard was music. Someone was playing a guitar and singing _The Maiden by the Great Sea_. A little smile made its way on her face as she half-heartedly hummed the words to the distant melody: " _Each night she came by the sea, to cry her pain to the waves. One time I heard the maiden's plea, "Oh, would you not take my soul away?" I stayed in hiding behind a tree, heard her confession to the waters so deep. "My dearest William has been taken from me, by my own hand, this secret you must now keep."_ " She went silent, listening to the person outside sing on. The story did not have a particularly happy ending: the husband-murdering wife's secret was out, and she was about to hang for her crime. However, the day she was to be hung, she disappeared. The song told the story that she had last been seen by the sea, so it was believed that the wide waters had granted her last wish and taken her life away as a sign of repentance.

Caroline groaned quietly. It was so beautiful but also thoroughly melancholy; she would have rather listened to something merrier. To move on she focused on finding more sources of noise. Somewhere nearby there was someone obviously drunk, having a fight with someone else who was equally obviously not entirely sober. This actually irritated her. If it was those two older men again, one with thin, grey hair, the other one with an eyepatch, she swore to the Outsider there would be a problem. Again. Because there had been a problem with them before, with the exact same thing, and her guards had told the two never to bother the neighbourhood with their drunken nonsense again. She took a sip of the whiskey, stood up and headed towards the balcony door ready to give those drunken fools an earful when…

CRASH!

Caroline did not scream. She barely made any sound at all aside from a quiet huff of a sudden, hurried breath. She froze in her place, forgetting to keep a grip on the whisky glass, which fell on the floor, staining her cream-colored dress on the way. For a moment everything seemed unrealistic, strange and distant: she was standing there, completely immobile, with her eyes quite about the size of the biggest plates in the household, staring at a strange, masked person in the middle of shattered glass, bleeding aggressively all over the place. It was an understatement that Caroline had no idea what to do, what to say, how to react. It was all too possible she could have dallied there for the rest of the evening had the person not groaned in such a pain-filled voice that made the baroness shiver: "Please, help me."

What does one do when a stranger comes flying through one's window? Caroline had no idea, but she did realize the situation required quick thinking, and whatever her decisions would be, she would have to be making them fast. With a few, hurried steps she was over by the stranger's side, helping them up. Helping _her_ up, she realized. Velvety voice, long, dark hair in an up-do, delicate features, slender complex and narrow, elegant hands. Definitely a woman. And now that she thought about it, looked at her closer, did she not look like…

Noises from the outside interrupted her thoughts. Someone shouted something similar to: "She's in the baroness' house. Go get her!" The woman leaning on her shifted at that and instantly moaned in pain, grabbing her bleeding side.

"Come, come here", Caroline said, urging the injured woman towards her desk. "Hide under there", she commanded as she turned on her heels, rushing back towards the couch.

"They… They will find me there", the woman said.

"They won't", Caroline said, grabbing a blanket and placing it on her shoulders to cover the fresh blood on her dress. "I am going to hide you so well they will not find you, I swear. Get under there." As the woman crawled underneath, Caroline moved a carpet to cover the blood on the floor. Then she rushed over to the desk, already hearing heavy footsteps in the stairs.

"Be quiet and don't move, no matter what", the baroness whispered as she settled herself in the chair, trying to ignore how crazy the entire situation was. She pulled her skirt up, positioned the woman between her legs and threw the hem down, covering her legs and the woman entirely. Just in time, as the next thing she knew the door of her study was kicked open and there were guards everywhere.

"My lady", a female elite guard greeted her, bowing deeply. "I'm sorry to bother you like this but we have a reason to believe that a dangerous criminal has just passed through here."

"Indeed", Caroline said, shaking her voice slightly and trying to lure moist in her eyes. "See, here I was, writing a letter to my dear sister in Bastillian when all of a sudden I hear noises outside. Then out of nowhere comes this thug right through the window. There is glass everywhere, I am shocked, scared, and they point a gun at me, telling me to keep quiet. Then they just… leave, out of the door…" She paused dramatically, hiding her face behind a hand, looking down and shivering. "I don't know what to say, I don't know why this is happening…" she said quietly.

"Are you all right, my lady? You're not injured, are you?" the guard asked as others were inspecting the room as if the intruder was hiding in the ceiling or in the bookshelf. She seemed so genuinely concerned for her health and wellbeing that Caroline felt a tad awful for lying to her like that.

"No, I'm all right", she said, however, giving a tiny, weary smile.

"Sir, it's possible she's still in the house", one of the guards spoke to the female guard. "But if not, she could've passed to the other side and slipped out."

"You're right", she said to him. "I want three of you to check the house, the rest will come with me. We will search the entire area until we find her. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"My apologies that this incident has caused you so much trouble, my lady. I assure you, we will find this criminal and make her pay for her actions", the elite guard said, bowing again and signalling her troops to leave. Caroline gave a sympathetic nod, trying to appear as shaken and shocked as possible. When the room was empty and she heard no more noises of the search, she lifted her skirt to let out the woman underneath it.

"Please don't make me regret this", she said.

"My… My side. They got me", the dark-haired woman said, breathing heavily and holding on to her right side with increasing pressure. "And they shot me in the leg." The statement made Caroline drop all nonsense, and she began to help the other woman up and towards the couch. It was very bad, she realized. The woman's clothes were damp with blood, and the wounds kept oozing more of it. She would not be able to take care of it alone; she would need help.

"Pardon me", she said, not sounding very sorry at all, as she began to remove the woman's belt. She tensed beneath her, moving her hand to stop her. "I need it to add pressure to reduce bleeding", Caroline explained, which seemed to suffice her patient as she relaxed, letting her remove the belt and place it around her leg. Then she moved on to the wound on the side. She felt a twist of disgust in her stomach when the other woman removed her hand, which was bright red from the blood. Caroline took a deep breath and began to inspect the damage, moving wet fabric out of the way.

"By the Void", was her conclusion. The woman had obviously been close when a guard had swung their sword. The wound ran deep and bled so much she understood there was no time to waste. In haste she began to tear her dress apart, ripping herself two large pieces of fabric; one she folded on the wound to soak up the blood, the other she tied around the woman's waist to keep the first one in place. Caroline took the woman's hands, placed them on top of the bandages and said: "Press down as hard as you can. I'm going to get help."

"No, you can't. You don't understand", she attempted to resist.

"Don't worry", Caroline said. "I only have people in my house whom I trust completely. If I tell them to keep quiet about this, then they will keep quiet about this. But I can't do this on my own, do you understand? We need help, and we need it right now." Caroline really, truly hoped that the woman understood the severity of the situation. If she decided to leave while she was gone, she would die without a doubt. She would probably not make it farther than twenty feet from the front door. With her heels clapping rhythmically against the floor she exited the study and made her way downstairs into the kitchen.

"Rosie."

A young, pale girl with red hair looked up from the vegetables she was slicing. "Yes, madam?" she said. Caroline waved her hand, signalling the girl to follow her.

"Go get Jessanna", Caroline said quietly to the girl once they were at the back door. "Tell her I have needlework for her. Do not use main streets, stay out of sight, make sure nobody follows you. Do not talk to anyone, do not stop for anyone. Go straight to Jessanna, tell her what I just told you and come straight back. Do you understand?"

"Yes, madam", Rosie said and left immediately on her mission. Caroline sighed, her head spinning from all that had just happened. She would be needing a lot of whiskey to get over it all, and Madeline would have to wait for her letter a little longer.


End file.
